A Brooklyn delivery driver was killed after being shot seven times in a possible road rage attack on Friday night, police and sources said.
Gunfire rang out on Crescent Street between Loring and Stanley avenues in East New York around 10 p.m., police said. The victim, 27, was shot in the chest and body, the sources said.
He was taken to Brookdale Hospital and pronounced dead, according to police. No arrests have been made and the investigation into the shooting is ongoing, officials said.
No further information was immediately available. The victim’s identity has not been publicly released pending family notification.
The deadly shooting marks another violent incident in a city grappling with persistent gun violence. The attack came just hours after another road rage incident in Brooklyn sent two vehicles crashing into a building and injured a pedestrian in Bedford Stuyvesant.
In that earlier incident, a black Cadillac driven by Anthony Hayes, 56, collided with a BMW driven by Robert Walker, 43, on Fulton Street just after 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The force of the crash sent the BMW careening into a building, damaging a yoga studio and striking a 20-year-old pedestrian. Both drivers were arrested and charged with multiple counts including vehicular assault.
The delivery driver’s killing also follows a string of violent attacks against delivery workers across the New York area. In May, a DoorDash driver was shot in the back by a Town of Chester highway superintendent after getting lost while attempting a delivery in Orange County. John J. Reilly III, 48, fired multiple shots at the driver as he attempted to leave in his vehicle, state police said. Reilly was charged with assault and weapons possession.
In the viral moment that preceded this latest killing, tensions between motorists in New York have repeatedly escalated into deadly violence. Just last month, a livery cab driver was shot in the face by a bystander following a fender bender in Brooklyn, police and sources said. The driver survived the attack. In another recent case, a 31-year-old Amazon delivery worker was caught in crossfire and shot in the ankle while sitting in his truck in the Bronx, caught between two individuals shooting at each other.
The NYPD continues to investigate the East New York shooting and has asked anyone with information to come forward. Detectives are working to determine whether the victim and shooter knew each other or whether the confrontation began as a traffic dispute that spiraled out of control.
The killing adds to a grim tally for delivery workers in New York, a workforce that has seen increased violence in recent years. Many drivers work late-night hours in high-crime neighborhoods, making them vulnerable to robberies and assaults. The city has struggled to protect these essential workers despite repeated calls for enhanced safety measures.
No arrests have been made in the East New York killing and police have not released a description of any suspect.